OFF THE CUFF: Just another cold November

Conditions have normalized this week and there were a few downright warm days early this month, but without a doubt, November has at times been more like mid-winter than mid-autumn in 2014.

Obviously, this past weekend’s snowfall is clear testament to that reality, but meteorological data also supports it. According to information posted on the Weather Underground website (www.wundergound.com), five record low temperatures for November dates had been recorded through Monday at the Fort Leonard Wood weather station, including four straight from Nov. 14 to 17.

And Tuesday (the 18th) surely extended that streak; at about 6:30 a.m. that morning, I saw a starkly frigid reading of 6 degrees on the thermometer mounted to the well house at our remote Texas County high country outpost.

Doug Davison

The recent run even included a stretch of eight consecutive days with high temperatures below 40 in Springfield – something area TV and radio meteorologists pointed out had never before occurred in November.

But then, November 2013 was pretty cold in these parts, too. The Weather Underground site indicates six record lows were recorded at the Fort between the first and 17th of the month last year, including three that still stand in the face of this year’s onslaught of cold.

Of course, time will tell what the rest of this November’s weather will be like, and the same goes for December. But here’s to hoping we don’t take the same path as last year, because looking at last December could definitely bring back some cold memories.

Weather Underground data from the FLW station includes 11 days with high temperatures at or below freezing and two with highs only reaching the teens during the month. There were also eight days with lows at or below 11 degrees and three record lows, including a reading of only 6 degrees on the 24th and a mere 5 degrees on the 7th.

And of course, a lot of people – like me – grudgingly recall what happened last January and February, when the mercury dropped below the zero mark with amazing regularity.

Remember minus 14 on January 6? I have copies of two photos of thermometers showing that arctic reading that were taken at Texas County locations about 25 miles apart (I took one of the mercury-style unit at my place and a man well-known in the community took the other of a digital unit at his place).

Brrr.

Anyway, I’m not a big fan of big-time cold, but I’m a huge fan of living in the south-central Missouri Ozarks, so it’s OK by me if things get a bit nippy now and then.

And my wife can make awesome pots of bean soup and chili, so it could be far worse.

Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.

A digital thermometer at a location about three miles north of Houston shows a frigid minus 14 degrees at 7 a.m. last Jan. 6.

A thermometer at a location about 10 miles east of Houston shows a frigid minus 14 degrees at 7 a.m. last Jan. 6.

A thermometer at a location about 10 miles east of Houston shows a frigid minus 14 degrees at 6 a.m. Nov. 17 (2014).